


Ordinary Chocolate

by darkmus



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Japanese Culture, M/M, Valentine's Day, White Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-02 12:04:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10217612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkmus/pseuds/darkmus
Summary: Jounouchi gets chocolate for Valentine's Day, then has to return the favor





	1. Valentine's Day

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by ([x](http://darkmus.tumblr.com/post/157236673586/semie78-imagine-your-otp%0A)) and ([x](http://darkmus.tumblr.com/post/156898952656/whimzzz-kaiba-wheeler-you-are-a-worthless-dog))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference, [honmei choco ("true feeling chocolate")](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honmei_choco) is given with romantic intentions and [giri choco ("obligation/courtesy/friend chocolate")](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giri_choco) is given for societal reasons

By the time classes let out on Valentine's Day, Jounouchi had only received one chocolate gift, a giri choco from Anzu. It was kind of expected; after all, he wasn't as popular as Bakura.

He wasn't expecting to get any more chocolate, and least of all from Kaiba.

"Jounouchi."

He turned to see Kaiba nodding at him to follow him out the classroom. Curious, he followed.

Kaiba ended up taking him to a secluded section at the back of the school before handing him a fancy white box tied with a blue ribbon.

"G… giri choco??"

He felt his cheeks burn and whipped his head around to see if anyone was watching. There wasn't.

"Something like that. Open it."

Jounouchi pulled at the luxe ribbon and took off the lid to reveal sixteen seemingly handcrafted chocolates with a message of elegantly written characters on each piece: _"You're not worth my time, Bonkotsu."_

"What… the…?"

Kaiba smirked at his confusion before pivoting on his heel and walking away.

Totally bewildered, he stood there for several long moments trying to figure out why the hell Kaiba would give him this… whatever this was... obviously not honmei choco but not giri choco either. 

He returned to the classroom to gather his things in a confused haze.

"What did Kaiba want?" asked Honda, as they all went to change their shoes.

Jounouchi could feel himself blushing again. 

"He, uh… he got me chocolate…" he admitted and his friends' jaws dropped. "Did he… did he give you guys any?"

Anzu regarded him thoughtfully. "I don't think he gave _anyone_ chocolate… was it honmei choco?"

Jounouchi's face just got hotter.

"I don't think so," he said, opening the box to show them. 

Honda tsk-ed. "He's just messing with you!"

"It's very strange," agreed Yuugi. 

"And totally contradictory. These look homemade. Unless… he had a servant make it?" questioned Anzu. "Do they even taste good?"

"I don't know," Jounouchi said, putting one in his mouth. 

"Wait, it might be poisoned!" cautioned Honda belatedly. 

"Honda-kun, he wouldn't do that!" Yuugi said as Jounouchi swallowed the chocolate nervously. 

"Or would he?" a skeptical Honda countered. 

"Well, Jounouchi isn't dead, so it must be fine," said Anzu. "How does it taste?"

Jounouchi blinked owlishly. 

"Really… good, actually," he admitted, kind of wanting to eat another. 

Honda grimaced and Yuugi scratched his head, puzzled. 

"Maybe it's secretly honmei choco," giggled Anzu. 

Jounouchi turned red.

"Then why would he write such a rude message?" he groused. 

"Who knows," Anzu replied, amused.

They were making it out the door when Anzu stopped them. 

"Hey, Jounouchi… I guess this means you have to get him something for White Day…"

Jounouchi balked and Honda slung his arm around his shoulder. 

"See, messin' with you," Honda shrugged. "Maybe you should put laxatives in his cookies."

"That means I actually have to make him cookies!" argued Jounouchi. 

His three friends good-naturedly laughed at his predicament, walking ahead, while Jounouchi grumbled for a moment before sneaking another chocolate into his mouth.


	2. White Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On [White Day](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Day), March 14, men who received chocolate return the gift. Sometimes the term sanbai gaeshi (三倍返し?, 'triple the return') is used to describe the generally recited rule for men that the return gift should be two to three times the worth of the Valentine's gift.

The rest of February passed in a stomach-churning blur as Jounouchi tried to not think about Kaiba, the delicious mystery choco that he finished that same day, and its intended purpose. He failed, of course, and Kaiba was on his mind even more than usual. 

The second week of March, Anzu kindly reminded him that White Day was coming up. This lead to a frustrating brainstorming session with his friends. 

"So what are you getting Kaiba?" asked Anzu with held-back amusement. 

Jounouchi scratched his head. "I don't know…" he admitted dejectedly. 

"Well, the classic response is cookies," Yuugi supplied. 

"I know what you should get him," said Honda, whipping out his phone to show them. His friends gathered around to look at his screen and the reaction was both loud and varied when they saw the picture of an underwear model in white lingerie. 

"No!" yelled Jounouchi as Anzu let out a peal of restrained laughter and Yuugi squealed in embarrassment. 

Honda chuckled evilly until Jounouchi put him in a headlock. 

"I'm. Not. Getting. Him. That!!"

"Okay, okay!" conceded Honda. 

Trying to stop laughing, Anzu pulled her friends apart. 

"C'mon, let's give Jounouchi some real options, okay?"

Jounouchi sat back fuming, angry at Honda for suggesting that ridiculous option and angry at himself for now not being able to not picture Kaiba in it. He could feel his face burning up for so many conflicting reasons. 

"What about marshmallows?" suggested Yuugi, thinking of his reliable Marshmallon.

"Yes, but what about sanbai gaeshi?" said Anzu. "Unless you get him those really fancy ones…"

"I don't even know how much he spent…" Jounouchi grumbled. 

"You know, if he made it himself it's probably worth a billion yen…" Honda joked, slapping him on the back. "How much money does that guy make an hour?"

Jounouchi sighed dejectedly. 

"Okay, okay, if not lingerie then why not a white tie?" Honda suggested. 

"I doubt he'll wear it," sighed Jounouchi. 

"He doesn't have to wear it," Honda argued. "It's the thought that counts."

"Maybe something with Blue Eyes White Dragon?" offered Yuugi. Jounouchi made a face. That guy did not need any more Blue Eyes stuff; a jet and a theme park were more than enough. 

"Jounouchi, if you do want to go the cookie route, I have an easy sugar cookie recipe you can use," Anzu said encouragingly. "If his choco were homemade, it would be a nice gesture if your return gift was too."

"Yeah, I guess you're right…"

"You should see if the teachers will let you use the school kitchen."

Jounouchi gave a long suffering sigh as Honda laughed as his misfortune. 

~~~

Baking cookies was a lot harder than it seemed. Jounouchi made a huge mess, much to the displeasure of the cooking club, but at least he didn't burn down the school. 

In the end, only about half were presentable; while edible, the other half was a mix of lumpy, misshapen, and somewhat burnt cookies. Anzu had lent him some cookie treat bags and ribbon to package them. He ended up splitting the batch of cookies in half: half for Anzu for her giri choco and half for Kaiba. He thought about giving Kaiba all the bad ones for a moment but the idea of Kaiba mocking him for the subpar cookies stopped him. Once packaged though, they didn't seem that bad.

On White Day, he gave the cookies to Anzu during the first break between classes. The package for Kaiba sat heavily in his bag and made his stomach sink to the floor every time he thought about delivering it.

Anzu was impressed with his return gift, though probably because her expectations were not very high to begin with. During lunch she ate a few cookies and said they tasted good and that she was proud of him. The praise bolstered his spirits a bit, making him a little bit less anxious. However, every time he almost had the courage to present his gift or try to catch Kaiba's eye, he would get flustered and his resolve would falter again.

The rest of the day somehow simultaneously passed by very slowly and very quickly. It was almost the end the school day and Jounouchi still had not given his return gift to Kaiba. When the teacher finally dismissed them, Anzu gave him a pointed look which he returned guiltily. He turned to see Kaiba already leaving the classroom and in a panic, Jounouchi grabbed his stuff and hurried after him.

Kaiba was heading towards the shoe lockers at a swift pace and Jounouchi had to jog to catch up with him.

"Kaiba!"

Jounouchi grabbed Kaiba's wrist, and the other boy stopped and turned to him in surprise. Jounouchi grimaced, his stomach turning somersaults, and yanked him away. Kaiba stumbled after him.

He led Kaiba to the stairwell leading towards the roof, cheeks burning all the while, trying to ignore the stares of his classmates. When they were finally alone, he dropped Kaiba's wrist, rummaged in his bag for the package of cookies, and shoved it in Kaiba's hands. He couldn't meet Kaiba's eyes though.

"And here I was, thinking you forgot about me…" Kaiba said in a way that almost made Jounouchi think he was pouting. The thought annoyed him; he'd thought about Kaiba too much these past few weeks and even before, it wasn't like he could forget about this arrogant jerk.

Jounouchi glared at Kaiba as he turned the gift in his hands to get a good look at it. Kaiba's eyebrows rose in approval and he pulled at the ribbon, took out a cookie and ate it. Jounouchi's stomach flip-flopped again, his face falling from a look of anger into one of worry, as Kaiba chewed the cookie slowly and methodically.

"Not bad," Kaiba finally said.

Jounouchi let out a breath of relief.

Kaiba opened his mouth to speak, but after some hesitation, closed it again. Instead, he put the cookies in his bag, nodded at Jounouchi, and went back down the stairs.

Jounouchi shoulders deflated and he closed his eyes. Then he shook himself out before climbing down the stairs, glad the ordeal was over and hoping it would never happen again.


End file.
